At a time of record deficits, a new soccer field for detainees at Camp 6 in Guantanamo Bay is just getting the finishing touches -- at a cost of $750,000 to taxpayers.

The project was the highlight of a tour Tuesday of the detention camp for reporters at the facility covering the arraignment in a military court of Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident and the the only legal U.S. resident on trial at Guantanamo.

The project began in April 2011 and is due to finish this spring. The detainees will now have three recreation facilities at Camp 6, which is home to "highly compliant" detainees who live in a communal setting.

In addition to an indoor recreation field and the existing outdoor recreation field, the new soccer field -- selected because it is such a popular sport with detainees -- is half the size of an American football field.

The new field has been specially constructed so that the detainees "have maximum access" -- about 20 hours a day. Special passageways allow the detainees to pass into the new recreation yard without being escorted by the military.

On the tour, a military police representative who asked not to be identified by name said allowing high levels of activity outdoors helped reduce behavioral problems at the camps, and it also limited the amount of interaction between detainees and the guards.

Gee, we're kind of a long way from the days when it was going to close "within a year", aren't we?:biggrin-new:

txradioguy

02-28-2012, 06:03 PM

Gee, we're kind of a long way from the days when it was going to close "within a year", aren't we?:biggrin-new:

I wonder how many of the garrisons and units left here in Germany could have put that $750K to better use?

Rockntractor

02-28-2012, 07:02 PM

With the cuts to military retirees benefits we'll have plenty of money to pamper terrorists.

Odysseus

02-28-2012, 07:10 PM

I wonder how many of the garrisons and units left here in Germany could have put that $750K to better use?

Oh, I don't know... a large field of grass could be very useful for dealing with terrorists that we cannot release or keep. :biggrin-new:

Hawkgirl

02-28-2012, 09:00 PM

Seriously?? I think us taxpayers would have been happier if that money went to a VA hospital.

Odysseus

02-28-2012, 10:02 PM

Seriously?? I think us taxpayers would have been happier if that money went to a VA hospital.

No, I think that once it's been fertilized with a few terrorists, it will be a very nice field. :biggrin-new:

AmPat

02-29-2012, 05:24 PM

No, I think that once it's been fertilized with a few terrorists, it will be a very nice field. :biggrin-new:
Pig feces make a potent fertilizer.

Hawkgirl

03-02-2012, 10:49 PM

At least four House members and one staffer from the Senate appropriations committee have pushed the Department of Defense for answers on the new soccer field for detainees at Camp 6 in Guantanamo Bay.

Fox News first reported on the $750,000 controversial project Tuesday.

Congressman Dennis A. Ross, R-Fla., is introducing the "NO FIELD ACT" that would penalize the Department of Defense and cut the 2013 budget by $744,000 -- the price tag for the Camp 6 soccer field.

"This may be the poster child for this election as to what's wrong with this country," Ross told Fox News in an interview from Tampa

I wonder how many of the garrisons and units left here in Germany could have put that $750K to better use?

You know how that works, the money couldn't have been used in Germany, it's "different color money".

txradioguy

03-03-2012, 05:49 AM

You know how that works, the money couldn't have been used in Germany, it's "different color money".

Yeah sadly I do know what you mean. But I know a couple of Brigade commanders that wouldn't care if it was pale blue as long as it would go towards keeping their units from being deactivated.

AmPat

03-03-2012, 12:15 PM

Yeah sadly I do know what you mean. But I know a couple of Brigade commanders that wouldn't care if it was pale blue as long as it would go towards keeping their units from being deactivated.
Deactivation is a sad thing. After my Change Of Command, the new COC decided to merge my unit into a larger one. They did it for the deployment and it made perfect sense but it will be nearly impossible to stand it up again upon return. My replacement got the short stick because he went from Company command to Plt leader in the change.